


An Encounter with the Headless Horseman

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-23 17:40:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8336869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Louisa and Alex meet a ghost story.





	

Louisa was glad to see that she wasn’t the only one shivering from the ‘cold’. At least the abandoned summer house wasn’t making those creaking noises yet. Apparently, that particular ghost was only active at night. Alex shivered beside her, despite the lingering heat of the day.

“Oh, you two are such scaredy-cats,” said Tin Can. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s only a few ghosts.”

“I’m not scared of the little ones,” said Alex. Louisa nodded, agreeing with her.

“Yeah, it’s the big ones that scare me,” said Louisa. “The big ones that possess objects and people and knock on walls.” She shivered.

“Yeah, that and Galloper Thompson,” said Alex, looking around warily.

“Galloper Thompson?” Louisa echoed. “Who’s that?”

“A local legend,” said Tin Can. “People say that he appears in forests and chases after you to feast on your flesh and steal your head.”

“Why would he want to steal my head?” asked Louisa. “You’d think he’d want eyes that work properly.”

“Because he doesn’t have one of his own,” said Alex with a shrug. “But I’m pretty sure that it’s just a legend.”

A growl swept over the land just as the two girls reached the bridge to Firgrove. Louisa whirled around, looking frightened, and sidled a little closer to Alex.

“What was that?” asked Louisa.

“Galloper Thompson,” said Alex, looking pale. “I guess that means he’s real.”

“We should go find him,” said Luna.

“No,” said Louisa and Alex at the same time.

“You’re bloody Soul Riders, you rescued Silverglade from shadow creatures from another realm, and this legend scares you?” asked Tin Can with a snort.

“Plastic bags are also perfectly harmless, Tin Can,” said Alex. Tin Can snorted again but shut up.

The two girls made their way to Greendale, looking for little ghosts and definitely not getting startled at the sight of huge pumpkins. Naturally, Alex thought that that was hilarious. But she looked scared again when the two started riding through the green forest.

“What’s wrong?” asked Louisa.

“We’re in a forest,” said Alex. Louisa immediately understood, feeling her skin prickle.

And then, suddenly, he was there. Louisa felt her heart beating faster, and her vision seemed to get a little dark around the edges. She was aware of Alex keeping close to her, and she could smell the ozone when Alex readied a spell. But everything was getting darker as the horse snarled and the strange, headless man rose up into the air and threw something at her. She felt like she was falling, and then there were hands on her back. Very cold hands.

Alex stood outside New Hillcrest stables later, trying to hide her shaking hands while she listened to the frightened sobbing coming from inside. Luna wouldn’t let her near her friend, she was weird like that.

“Come on, Louisa, let’s go see Linda. She might be able to find out more about him,” said Alex.

“No,” came the tiny voice from inside.

“Don’t you wanna see Linda?” asked Alex. Silence. “What if it was Lisa instead? Linda might have some news on Lisa’s whereabouts.”

“Okay,” said Louisa. She came out of the stables, wiping her eyes, and put her glasses back on.

“There, that’s better,” said Alex. “No forest here for miles. And we can go across South Hoof, where there have never been any trees except for the one big one.”

“Okay,” said Louisa again. She stepped on something, then lifted her foot up. “What’s this?” She picked up a cloth-wrapped something.

“Oh, he threw that at you,” said Alex. “The thing inside, anyway. The other thing is his shirt, I accidentally blasted it off when I threw Soul Strike at him. Apparently ghosts are immune, who knew.”

“So now he’s shirtless as well as headless,” said Louisa, unravelling the shirt to look at it. A small something fell out, and she bent to pick it up.

“I guess,” said Alex. “Now, c’mon, let’s go.”

“It’s a Samulet,” said Louisa, smiling at the amulet. Alex looked confused. “We are going to cancel all of our jobs and training and marathon Supernatural until you’re caught up.”

“Okay,” said Alex. “As long as it’s not too scary.”

“I’ve watched it so it can’t be that scary,” said Louisa. “And there are hot girls in it.”

“Deal,” said Alex. Louisa laughed and then mounted Luna, ready to ride out to the winery.

“By the way, I felt you picking me up. Why were your hands so damn cold?” asked Louisa, shivering at the memory.

“Dunno, they always get cold when I cast spells,” said Alex. “But it’s better than them overheating so maybe it’s a safety thing.”

“That makes sense,” said Louisa, nodding.

Linda looked up from her most recent book as the two girls entered the library.

“Welcome back,” said Linda, smiling at the sight of Louisa. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Actually, we’ve seen many,” said Alex. “But that’s not what scared us.”

“What do you know about Galloper Thompson?” asked Louisa.

“Oh, that’s just an old ghost story,” said Linda. Louisa put the amulet in front of her, along with the shirt. “Where’d you get these?” Now Linda looked like she’d seen a ghost.

“Oh, from the old ghost story we saw in Greendale,” said Louisa. “Alex saved my life, he was going to eat me or steal my head.”

“I thought he was just a myth,” said Linda, touching the amulet. “But this is… wow. I’m going to have to do some more research.”

“Well, what else do you know about him?” asked Alex. “We need to know everything so we know if it’s safe to ride around Jorvik.”

“Well, obviously, he’s a headless horseman who rides around the forests of Jorvik. Legend has it that he was around when the Forgotten Fields were still a large forest,” said Linda.

“Great, so we have to avoid forests,” said Louisa with a sigh. “There goes my training schedule.”

“No, he doesn’t appear during the day,” said Linda. “Only in the early mornings, evenings, and nights. I guess he’s afraid of the sun or something.”

“Most supernatural creatures are,” said Alex. “Thanks, Lin.”

“Oh, and this amulet is cursed. You should get rid of it,” said Linda, pushing it away from her.

“Cursed, you say? Then I should study it,” said Alex, picking it up. Then she looked at her friend. “That is, if you don’t mind losing your training buddy.”

“No, go ahead, you haven’t looked this excited about something in a while,” said Louisa. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, thanks,” said Alex, and ran off. Louisa sat down near Linda.

“So,” said Louisa, “read any good books lately?”

“Are you going to just spend all your time in here with me now?” asked Linda. She looked quite happy at the prospect.

“Yes,” said Louisa. “At least, during the early mornings, evenings, and nights. Until spooky season is over.” Linda grinned, then laughed at her friend.


End file.
